


Negative Space

by QuickSilverFox3



Series: Nano 2018 [6]
Category: Campaign Podcast Skyjacks
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 04:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16590566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickSilverFox3/pseuds/QuickSilverFox3
Summary: Gable shows who she used to be, by that which is not there. From podcast Campaign Skyjacks





	Negative Space

Compared to all the big secrets she had locked up tight in her chest, it seemed like such a small insignificant one to keep. It wasn't even as if it was a uncommon secret to have, after all they may have transitioned into the sky a generation or two prior, but pirates were still pirates, regardless of how you cut it.  
Gable sighed, savouring her brief few moments of quiet on the deck of the ship. Docked at a port following a successful mission in more ways than one, the majority of the crew were out on shore, drinking their hard earned money away in celebration.  
Jonnit was on shore, swept away with the rest of the crew, the young boy almost falling off the ship in his puppylike eagerness. Travis and Dref were locked away in the captain's quarters, although for two entirely different reasons: Travis was raiding the captain's wardrobe, clever fingers stroking over every inch of tailored fabric, head lost in clouds while Dref worked on fixing the captain, as much as a Diviner could fix a very dead man.

It was barely even a stretch for Gable to hook her arm over one of the ropes, pulling herself up with ease. She moved upwards through the ship nimbly, no fear of falling like her other companions. She simply knew that she wouldn't. The ship may have been empty but she couldn't take that risk, desiring one thing to keep to herself for just a few days more, and then a few days after that. Shrugging off her outer shirt, Gable sighed as she felt the soft salty sea breeze on her bare back, the salt slightly stinging the raw edges of her new tattoos.

They arced and coiled over almost every inch of her back, animals morphing into symbols into thick bold lines to distorted faces. The ink almost seemed to sway on her skin, features changing subtly every time the eye returned to them, much like Gable herself. They weren't always present, as changeable as the rest of her, ebbing and flowing with the tides far below. She could feel them returning, a caress like shadows on her bones. However that was nothing compared to the aching pain of what wasn't there. The nerves were deadened now, too much pain passing through them in one lightning burst for them to ever work again but she could sense their absence. It showed in the way she moved, overbalancing and being unable to stop herself, arching her back expecting a crack to happen to relieve an ache that was no longer part of her physical body, the short drops between ship and bird where a single misjudgement would mean death.

Gable untied her hair, letting the wind catch it and pull it behind her, knots and tangles twisting themselves together but she didn't care. The boards were solid beneath her, but she turned her face to the sky, tasting the salt on her lips. She could barely remember what it felt like, to fly under her own power, not that of a ship, heavy and cumbersome beneath her feet.

On her back, amidst the waving mass of black lines and contorted shapes, the casual observer would see two bare lines, two finger widths wide and straight as an arrow on either side of Gable's spine. They could pass for battle wounds amongst this scarred and proud crew. But she knew better.

They were a symbol of shame, of regret, a physical reminder of what she had lost, as if the mental load wasn't punishment enough.  
One time, she had wings.  
One time, she was able to fly.  
One time, she was whole.

Now she was broken and maimed and trapped on the ground or on a ship, unable to feel the wind through her wings that were no longer there.

"Gable?"  
Dref. Gable sighed, pulling her outer shirt back on, quickly staring down at herself to check the tattoos were hidden.  
One secret revealed at a time.   
And maybe just maybe, she would find a way to reclaim her birth right.   
She would fly again.   
She had to.


End file.
